The Time After
by PsychicEevee0103
Summary: What happens when Ash dies and leaves Pikachu with his adopted sister?
1. Chapter 1

** A/N: Hello! This is a story I've been writing at school for a long while. It's kind of dark, especially at the beginnning. Also, I worked on keeping the characters in character, and be more descriptive. Tell me if you like it or not in reviews, 'kay? Here goes!**

** I don't own Pokemon, you say? Only too true, though I wish it isn't so...**

(**Note: First chapter is 3****rd**** person, but all others are 1****st**** person POV**)

(**Delia's POV**)

Delia's mind was reeling. Her baby boy was... she just couldn't believe it.

"Could you... say that again?" she asked the young man on the other end of the video phone. He was tall, with pale skin and almost neon green hair, which stood up in three spikes at the front which looks like grass. He had a formal suit on, as well as a small (in comparison to Ash's previous traveling companions) brown backpack. His eyes, which matched his hair in color, had tears in them, as well as there being tearstains on his cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry Ms. Ketchum, but your son, Ash... he's... dead," at that last word, he, along with the two young women, one of which Delia knew, as well as the four Pokemon in view, a Pikachu, a Vaporeon, a Flareon, and a Pokemon she didn't know-she assumed at least part of its name was "Axew" because it kept saying that-began crying again, the girl she knew leaning on the boy for support. It was understandable, considering Ash was her adopted brother, as well as the boy who helped her to see that not everyone was bad.

"How did he... go?" Delia asked after a minute or so.

"T-team Rocket," the girl she knew, Tay, responded, lifting her head from the boy, Cilan or something. "They were t-trying to steal a girl's Liligant." Tay saw the confusion on Delia's face at the name of the Pokemon, one she didn't know, and pulled a small grey machine from her purse, which hung at approximately her waist at her right side. Holding it vertically, she typed something into it, then showed the screen up to the video phone. It showed a bipedal Pokemon, which was a Grass type judging by the large red bloom on its head. It was mostly light green, but its arms, the leaves on the bottom of its flower, and the edges of the capelike part on its back were darker green. There are also other colors, but they aren't as dominant as those two. A small voice came from the Pokedex.

"**Liligant, the Flowering Pokemon. Trainers find it difficult to make the flower on its head bloom, and once it does bloom, it withers if Liligant is not taken care of properly.**" it rattled off.

"So they... were trying to take one of those?" Delia asked.

"Yeah," the other girl, Iris or something, relied. She had dark skin, and navy blue hair, a LOT of it. It was at least three times the size of her head, and the Pokemon Delia didn't know, that Axew or something, nestled in there. She had brown eyes, and wore loose clothes that were a rather pretty mix of yellow with pink edges. She, too, was crying.

"Ash attacked them," the dark haired girl continued where Tay had left off in telling the story. "He had Pikachu use Thunderbolt, but Team Rocket reflected it back, the power at least quadrupled, back at Pikachu. Despite the natural resistance to electricity, Pikachu would have been done for, that is, if Ash hadn't jumped in the way at the last second. It was too much for his body to take. The last thing he said... was for Pikachu to go with Tay." Iris finished.

Everyone was startled as a new voice spoke up from out of view from the other side of the video phone. "What's going on here?"

The speaker walked into view. It was a girl with fair skin and brown hair under a green and white bandana. She had blue eyes that sparkled with curiosity. She had an orange, black-collared, and white shirt. There was a green waist pack at her, well, waist. (**A/N: Wow! Really? I thought it was at her head! *sarcasm***) Delia gasped as she recognized the girl, at almost exactly the same time as Tay.

"May?" they asked at the same time.

"Yep, it's me," May smiled and giggled.

"Who's that, Tay?" the other girl asked.

"Guys, this is May. We traveled together a year and a half ago with..." Tay obviously couldn't bring herself to say the name of her late brother so soon after his departure. "May, these are Cilan and Iris." The two in question say short greetings (Iris said "Hi" and Cilan "It's nice to meet you"). "We've been traveling together for a while now."

"Hi, Ms. Ketchum! Where's Ash, Tay?" May asked quietly.

"He's... no longer in this world," Cilan answered for Tay, who lowered her head so her light silver eyes were shadowed, but thin silver lines-tears-streaked down her cheeks, dripping down her chin. Iris turned away, but anyone could see the tears threatening to fall from her eyes as well. Cilan was trying to look strong, but even the blindest of Zubats could tell that he was on the verge of crying.

"No... no... no!" May started sobbing, collapsing onto the floor and out of view.

"When's... the funeral?" Delia asked softly.

"We'll be... taking him to Pallet Town in a few days for the funeral. Is... that alright?" Tay answered.

"Yes, yes. I have to... spread the word," Delia said, then switched off the video phone. She fetched Mr. Mime before hurrying off to tell the people she thought Ash would've liked to know first, the one that gave him his ever loyal first Pokemon, as well as the young man that traveled with him through the Orange Archipelago, who was now the first's assistant.

"Professor? Tracey?" Delia knocked on the door. Well, more like her knuckles were shaking in sadness, and they hit the door.

"Mime? Mime?" Mr. Mine imitated.

"Delia?" the door opened to reveal Professor Oak. He looked confused. "Why are you crying? Come in and sit down."

"Where's Tracey? He and the Pokemon need to hear... something." Delia replied, going in.

"What is it? You seem upset," Professor Oak wondered aloud.

"I'd rather not say it twice," Delia headed to the ranch right away.

"Tracey's feeding the Pokemon," Professor Oak followed Delia out.

"Bulba-saur!" Ash's loyal friend nuzzled Delia's legs, seeing and sensing her sadness.

"Nya? Nya nya!" Delia very nearly smiled at the sight of the hyperactive pink Pokemon that came quickly, batting at Delia and Professor Oak's feet as the two walked. "Not now Luna," Delia stopped for a moment, leaned down, and picked up Tay's hyper Skitty in her arms. "Bulbasaur, can you gather the rest of Ash and Tay's Pokemon please? I-I have an announcement to make."

"Bul-bulbasaur!" the grass/poison type sent a large spray of rainbow pollen into the air.

It started as a whisper, the rustle of cellophane. Next, a dust cloud appeared on the horizon. It got closer and closer, the sounds getting louder and louder, until many Pokemon were right in front of the two. Huffing, Tracey appeared from the forest and jogged over to them.

"What's going on?" he asked as he came. "I saw Bulbasaur's signal to the Pokemon, and I came. Are you alright, Ms. Ketchum?"

"The reason why I had Bulbasaur gather Ash and Tay's Pokemon is that Ash... has... passed on," Delia started to cry at the last two words. Everyone was shocked. One by one, everyone else started to cry as well, starting with Ash's Bayleef and Tay's Umbreon, Yoru. They just stood there, people and Pokemon, crying their eyes out, until, a little at a time, they cried themselves to sleep, right there in the field.

** A/N: Well, there we go with Chapter 1. I figured about 4½ pages is about right. (In case you're wondering, I took the name Yoru from Japanese for 'night'.) I'll be trying to get at least one or two reviews before I update again. Either that, or in a month. Whichever comes first. See you next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

** A/N: Hi! There aren't any reviews, and since it's been a month, I'm updating like a promised.**

** Skitty: PsychicEevee0103 does not own Pokemon! You forgot that Psychic!**

** PsychicEevee: I know, I know! I was literally just about to say that! And DON'T CALL ME PSYCHIC! I'M PSYCHICEEVEE!**

** Time to do this! Also, if you don't know already, Tay used to be an unusually small Shiny Eevee with eyes that matched her coat until she was transformed into a human, at which point she became a Pokemon Breeder, but she can still change back and forth between her forms. This information becomes vital later, you'll see why.**

(**1****st**** Person Tay's POV**)

I could see life, bustling as usual around me. It was just unfair! My adopted brother, the boy that showed me that not everyone is an enemy, my best friend, my... secret crush (okay, I've said that we're just friends in the past, but I've always had a little crush on him, even back when I was just an Eevee), was gone, and it seemed almost as if no one cared!

"Pi?" Through my depressed trance, I heard a voice, followed by a tugging at the ankle of my deep purple leggings. Looking down, I saw Pikachu, his head tilting to the side. Even though I couldn't directly understand Pikachu, I had learned after I was transformed a while back to not just rely on words, but tone and movements as well. I nodded at Pikachu, and he started to run up my body, tickling me. Pikachu stopped at my left shoulder, right where he traveled on Ash. Just that small thought made a cold fist wrap itself around my heart and squeeze.

"Pi? Pikachu pika?" Pikachu softly questioned.

"I'm fine, Pikachu... just thinking, that's all." I responded.

I knew it was wrong to lie, but I didn't want to worry Pikachu, nor my parents, who were nearby as always. (They were... more than a little overprotective.) I knew I wasn't fine, but I hoped that eventually I would be. Thinking about the future made me also think about the past, primarily when I first met Ash.

(**Begin flashback**)

_ I crouched under the big grey machine. There were several strangers (and the human that had been leaving out food for me for the past couple of weeks), and I had learned by now that strangers always meant enemies. After all, pretty much everyone that I'd ever seen was an enemy. There were six beings overall near me. That man, the oldest one there, a dark skinned boy with dark hair, the second oldest, and two that seemed to be about the same age, a boy and the only girl in the room (besides me) were the humans. There were also two Pokemon, a Pikachu and a Togepi._

_ All of them may have been enemies, but one of them, the youngest boy, had a soothing aura. He almost reminded me of my parents, from what I remembered of them. It had been so long since I had seen my parents; I had only been a baby at the time that I had been separated from them. I still couldn clearly remember how, though, I think it's because of my weird colors and those weak powers I'd been able to call on when I was surrounded by enemies, the ones that make everything not anchored to the ground fly around. Humans had been trying to take me, and my parents told me to run away, and I hadn't seen them since. I listened in on the conversation of the others in the room._

_ "Professor Oak, you said you had two favors. Taking this GS Ball to Professor Ivy is only one, so what's the other?" the dark skinned human asked._

_ "I'd like to ask if you three would mind taking someone along with you on your journey," the oldest one, Professor Oak, replied. "Eevee, come out from under there please."_

_ Needless to say, I was shocked. My fur and eyes blended in to the light grey of the machinery so well that I'd be pretty much invisible, or so I thought. I didn't think anyone could see me!_

_ I whimpered, backing further under the machine, the bottom of which cutting off my vision of the others. I continued to back up until I felt the wall touch the base of my tail._

_ "__S-stay away from me!__" I shouted, trying to sound brave. That epically failed though as my voice wobbled._

_ "It's alright Eevee, these people don't want to hurt you. They only want to meet you, to be friends." Oak tried to coax me out, but I just tried to get as much further under the machine as possible. Next to try was the girl._

_ "It's okay, Eevee. My friends and I just want to be your friends as well." She bent down so I could see her face. I flinched away, attempting to squirm back again, only to find that I was truly out of room to get away. I started to shake, fluffing out my silver fur and growling._

_ "What'd I do?" The girl, Misty I believed, murmured sadly as she pulled herself out of my view. Next was the taller boy, the one with dark brown skin and even darker brown spiky hair._

_ "I think I might know how you'll warm up to us," he said. "Have a taste of my Pokemon food. I promise you'll like it!" He pulled out a canister and a napkin. He opened the canister, pouring a portion of Pokemon food, which I remembered seeing when I was so young, back when I was with my parents. He poured the portion onto the napkin before gently sliding it over to me. I stepped forward, sniffing it. It smelled good enough, so I took an experimental bite. It was way too spicy! I coughed it out, trying not to choke._

_ "__Sorry, but it's a bit spicy for my taste,__" I said as politely as I could, trying my hardest not to make my smile look forced. Of course, the teen looked shocked._

_ "NO WAY!" he screamed. "IT DOESN'T LIKE MY POKEMON FOOD!"_

_ It was the other one's turn now, the one with the soothing aura. He bent down so we could see each other._

_ "Hello there," he started. He doesn't sound too overly hyper, and he didn't try to bribe me out. I instantly wanted to go with him, but I held out for a moment. "You don't look like you're too old, yet you're scared of people. Why are you scared of us? We're not bad. Please give us a chance."_

_ He then reached out, petting the top of my head. I flinched back at first, not used to being touched without pain following very soon after, but soon I realized that he really wouldn't hurt me, so I leaned into it. The boy smiled and beckoned me out with his other hand. I slowly padded out from the shelter of the machine. The others came into view. I could tell they were shocked by their faces._

_ "You managed to get it out Ash!" Oak complimented the boy, inadvertently telling me his name._

(**End Flashback**)

"Uh... Tay? Earth to Tay?" I zoned in to see May's hand waving in front of my face.

"I'm here!" I yell, startled.

"Where were you just now? It's obvious you weren't here," Iris asked.

"I was at an old memory," I explained. "The one of the time I first met Ash, when I was young. It took four people to get me out of hiding, and no one could until he tried."

"You were hiding? Why?" Iris asked.

"Well, you see, when Ash and I first met, I was really shy. I could barely glance at anyone without flinching. I was scared out of my fur every time anyone so much as looked at me, let alone made a sound. It was because before, I was hunted by poachers because of my odd colors. Ash protected me, helped show me that not everyone's bad." I explained.

"Wow... I didn't realize Ash was so... important to you," Iris blinked, shocked.

"Anyways, we should probably get tickets to the boat. We should probably also get a room at the Pokemon Center, 'cause I bet the next boat won't leave until at least tomorrow." I suggested. The others, including Cilan, who's been far quieter than usual, agreed, but as we were starting to head to the port to get the tickets, Cilan stopped me.

"No, Tay. We'll get the tickets. You get the room at the Pokemon Center." He gestured to first the others, then me for the second part.

"Alright. Pikachu, do you want to go with me or them?" I asked the Pokemon that was my late adopted brother's first Pokemon and best friend.

"Pi, Pikapi chuka pi chu," Pikachu told me, pointing to me. By that motion, as well as the tone of his voice, I can tell he was saying "Tay, Ash gave me to you."

"Thanks, Pikachu." I smiled at the Pokemon that was on my shoulder, one of my three walking Pokemon, as I'd once heard them called. "We'll meet up at here, okay?" (Remember, we were at the Pokemon Center.)

We split up, May, Iris, Axew, and Cilan heading to the port, while Pikachu and I went to the counter.

One slightly awkward conversation (**A/N: I'm too lazy to do this...**) later, Pikachu and I were being led to a room a bit further inside the Pokemon Center by Nurse Joy. Once we got there, Nurse Joy said, "Here's the key to the room."

"Thanks Nurse Joy," I intoned quietly. I unlocked the room, going in, and then put down my things and climbed onto one of the beds. "Cloudy, Flame, Pikachu, can you wait in the front for the others? Once they get back, bring them here, alright?"

"We're not going anywhere without you!" the two said at exactly the same time.

"No, you three go on. I want to stay here. I'll be fine," I curled up into a fetal position, staring blankly at the wall.

The two seemed to admit defeat as I heard three sets of pawsteps leading out of the room I was in. The toughest decision yet came right after that: to use my powers to shut the door or not. Normally it would be easy to use my powers, but I had a bit of a secret that no one, not even my parents, knew.

I had had my psychic powers unlocked more than a year ago, back when Ash and I had been traveling with Brock and Dawn through Sinnoh. They may have been fully unlocked, but I couldn't control them all the time. When I was upset, mostly when I became sad/depressed or angry, my powers grew far stronger, and out of my control. I didn't trust myself around people right now, when I was so depressed over Ash's death, and that was one of the reasons why I had Cloudy, Flame, and Pikachu wait for the others without me. I needed to control my emotions, control my power. Otherwise I'd hurt someone, and I didn't want to do that! I tried not to think about anything but when I was very young, between when I was separated from my parents and when I met Ash... I missed him. Ash was always so nice and funny, and even when he lost a battle, he never sulked. He just smiled and trained to get stronger, never backing down from even the smallest challenge. I always admired him for how he could turn around every single situation in a battle... I realized then I was doing exactly what I hadn't wanted to do: think about Ash.

"Tay? Why are you floating?" I snapped out of my trance to see that I was, indeed, levitating a good few inches from the bed. I quickly focused my mind to regain control of my powers. After feeling myself land on the bed, I sat up to see that the others had returned, and were all looking at me, worried.

"I have something to tell you guys," I started.

"What is it Tay?" May asked me.

"Well, you all know about how I was born as an Eevee, and had my odd psychic powers unlocked soon before I was given the power to turn into a human, right?" I lifted my left arm and gestured to the lone charm on a dark silver bracelet. It was a small, light silver Eevee, and if one looked extremely closely, they'd find it had silver eyes that were ever so slightly different from the rest of its coloration.

"Yeah, you told us about that right after we arrived in Nimbasa City," Iris said.

"And you told me when I met you in Sinnoh for the Wallace Cup," May nodded.

"Well, they may have been unlocked, but they're not under full control all the time." I continued explaining my secret.

"What do you mean?" Cilan questioned me, confused.

"You see, when I get emotional, usually sad or angry, my powers grow stronger and out of my control. That's why I always try to stay calm," I explain.

Cilan seemed to understand. "So if you're upset, your powers are uncontrollable?"

"Yeah. I can only stop myself when they grow if I seriously focus. It's nearly impossible once it comes to a point." I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, trying to remain calm.

"So do you have any idea how to be able to control it?" May sat down beside me on the bed.

"The only ways I can control my power are to keep calm or, when that fails, to focus extremely hard," I answered quietly.

"Pikachu pika chu kachu," Pikachu said. I looked to my parents for a translation.

"He said that that's why you always seemed to be meditating in the mornings," Cloudy explained.

"Yeah, Pikachu. I've taken to daily meditation to help me calm down." I smiled, then yawned. "I'm waking up really early, though."

"You should get some sleep. From what you just said, you haven't been getting much lately," May, ever sensitive, told me, standing up.

"I'm fine," I yawned, contradicting my statement.

"At least take a nap," May gently pushed me into a lying down position. Cloudy and Flame jumped on either side of me, pinning me down just enough so I couldn't sit back up, knowing I wouldn't risk taking off the ribbon to use my powers to move them.

"Fine. But just for a few hours. P-promise-" that word came out in a yawn "-you'll wake me up in a couple hours." I slid my glasses off and placed them on the bedside table.

"It's 3:00 now," Cilan said, pointing at a clock (or at least I assumed it was one; I was pretty much blind in my human form without my glasses) over the doorway. "We'll wake you at six, alright?"

"Mkay," I muttered, quickly transforming into my Pokemon form, that same silver Eevee on the charm on my bracelet that I wore in my human form. My body glowed a light silver as it shifted forms to that tiny Eevee, my birth form. My glasses glowed and were absorbed into me as I changed forms, since it was part of my body as a Pokemon. When it finished, I felt a small weight on my right ear, my old, purple ribbon. I curled up into a ball on the pillow. My parents curled around me, and May, who was obviously a little startled by my transformation (I'd forgotten for a moment that she'd never seen me transform; when we'd last met I hadn't discovered that I could change between my forms at will), then I felt a warm blanket being brought over me. I cuddled into the pillow, and let the warmth of sleep overcome me.

** A/N:**

** PsychicEevee: Well, I think a good ten or so pages are enough. I'm also going to start a Question of the Day, alright? Here's the first one...**

** Skitty: Let me Psychic! Oh please, let me!**

** PsychicEevee: Don't call me that, and get back to your own story!**

** Skitty: But it's so boring there! Let me stay here, please? *cuteifies herself***

** PsychicEevee: Curse my weakness to cuteness! Fine... make yourself useful and so the QotD, then.**

** Skitty: Yay! Thanks! Now then, the QotD is: How did Psychic do in terms of keeping everyone in character?**


End file.
